Yvonne’s State of Origin win

Queensland may have scraped in with a two-point win, but Channel Nine sports presenter Yvonne Sampson has come out the real winner of last night’s State of Origin.

Rising to the challenge of being the first female presenter to ever host a major sporting event in Australia, Queensland-born Yvonne has been dubbed ‘a natural host’ and ‘brilliant’ by her industry counterparts following her seamless debut.

‘It’s enormous, Origin is better than Christmas,’ said the 35-year-old ahead of her dream gig.

‘I couldn’t believe it when Tom (Malone, director of sport) told me. I got called into the office and you never know if you’re in trouble or not. I walked in and thought, "What have I done?"'

‘Then he told me that he’d like me to host Origin. It was enormously unexpected and I kept asking, “Are you sure, are you sure?” It’s such a privilege.’